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through the layers in her cake without eating her icing. I hadn’t yet learned what Mr. M. did for a living or what kind of relationship Rachel had with her mother. I couldn’t imagine her having any troubles, though. Her mother wasn’t going blind and losing all her energy like mine was, of that I was sure. And her father probably didn’t have conversations with his wife about what God might be punishing her for. Rachel seemed to have everything she wanted. I got up to use the washroom.
    By the time I returned, they were speaking about a girl named Adrienne. I sat down and Rachel eyed me up and down. I checked to see if I had any crumbs on my shirt, but there weren’t any. She snickered.
    â€œAdrienne was a good friend of ours,” she said. “You have her room.”
    â€œOh,” I replied, wondering if they resented me taking her place, filling her room with new things except for the shoeboxes. “Where did she go?”
    â€œHer mother won the lottery, took her out of school that very week. School just started.”
    Caroline thumped her hand on the table, shaking the sugar dispenser. “Maman’s played ever since I can remember, and Adrienne’s mother wins the first time she plays. Can you beat that?”
    â€œSister Aline says it’s not Christian to gamble,” mumbledFrancine as she sipped on her straw, her front teeth holding it in place.
    â€œWho cares?” Rachel snapped back. “My father says that since they won so much money, they should have donated some to the school like he does. But they went to live in France instead. Bought a vineyard or something ridiculous.”
    â€œI’d go live somewhere else if I had all that money,” Caroline said wistfully, her elbows on the table. She’d finished her cake and her drink. “Wouldn’t you?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I’ve never thought about it.”
    â€œNobody likes to be broke,” she continued.
    â€œNo, I guess not,” I replied.
    The cakes were expensive when buying for four and with a milkshake each, but I didn’t care. We were out on the town and I felt grown-up sitting at the table being served without being chaperoned. We were eating in a place that had tablecloths and candles and where I would receive the bill from the waitress. The double-chocolate cheesecake melted in my mouth deliciously. I can still taste its sweetness if I concentrate hard enough.

LATER THE SAME EVENING I found my opening. Although the girls were treating me well, I was painfully aware it was due largely to the fact that I was treating them all. Since it was the emergency money my father had given me, and because I’d never received an allowance and didn’t know how long it would be before my father or mother would give me any more, I knew I couldn’t count on money to keep me in their company. For the night, however, I enjoyed being able to provide for our short-term happiness. We went from the café to the Hudson’s Bay Company, the largest store in the city, located near the Market where the canal passed. Boats lined the sides of the canal, some with their lights on, others dark, attached by ropes and buoys to the concrete shore. With winter approaching, their residents would soon need to vacate their temporary homes. I wondered where those people went and where the boats were taken when the canal froze over. I bought the girls Cokes and plastic bags filled with candy to take home. I also bought them each a fashion magazine from the newsstand near the store exit. This way we could all trade after reading them and enviously admiring the glamorous women onthe covers and in the layouts, their bodies thin and attractive to men, not much unlike our own except that they were comfortable in them. The male clerk gave us a wink and we amused ourselves by speculating on what his girlfriend might be like, whether she resembled any of